Increasing numbers of asylum seekers in Sweden and Denmark are withdrawing their applicants and leaving.
Sweden received 160,000 refugees last year. The arrivals are facing waits of up to one year for the country’s migration agency to process the paperwork.
At the beginning of 2016 Sweden instituted ID checks at its borders. New applications fell sharply after this.
So far this year 1,366 asylum seekers from Iraq have cancelled their applications. This outweighs the 1,243 new applications this year from Iraqis.
The situation is reported to be similar for people from Afghanistan. This year 500 Afghanis have cancelled their applications.
Statistics indicate that just 18% of Afghans are likely to have their asylum applications approved. This no doubt has had an influence on a number of refugees already in Sweden or considering trying to get there.
In Denmark, where refugee numbers were considerably lower overall than in Sweden, 279 people have withdrawn their applications this year. The majority of these have been from Iraqis and Iranians, but nine Syrians have also cancelled their claims, according to the country’s integration minister.
More than 21,000 asylum applications were made in Denmark in 2015, a 44% increase over 2014.
Denmark instituted border control measures at the beginning of 2016. In the first week 641 refugees entered the country but the numbers have fallen significantly since with just 45 arrivals last week, according to police data.
Both Sweden and Denmark offer limited financial grants to eligible applicants to help them return to their countries of origin.
